Yellow-billed chough description

The yellow-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is an easily distinguishable mountain-dwelling bird with a small, yellow, slightly decurved bill and bright red legs and feet (4). Its rounded tail projects well beyond its wingtips when at rest (3).

The yellow-billed chough has blue-black, glossy feathers (2), which are slightly blue-green in colouration on the wings (3). The juvenile is similar in appearance to the adult, but its plumage is dull rather than glossy. The bill of the juvenile is horn-coloured and the legs are brown-black (3).

The yellow-billed chough has been observed flying at over 8,000 metres above sea level. A brilliant flier, it often plays in the air, suddenly tumbling and twisting or folding its wings, zooming downwards and catching itself at the last second. It also soars effortlessly about cliff faces and performs acrobatic displays in the air (6).

The yellow-billed chough has a smaller head and beak and a relatively longer tail than the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), which, as its common name suggests, has a red rather than yellow bill (3).

Two subspecies of yellow-billed chough are sometimes recognised, which differ slightly in size. Pyrrhocorax graculus graculus is smaller and Pyrrhocorax graculus digitatus is larger with stronger feet (3).

Related species

Yellow-billed chough biology

The yellow-billed chough feeds largely on insects and insect larvae, which it accesses by probing the soil with its curved bill. The prey of the yellow-billed chough includes caterpillars, wireworms (larvae of Elateridae species), ground beetles, small snails and ants (4). However, it is an opportunistic feeder and may also steal fruits from gardens, or scavenge from rubbish dumps and ski resorts to find anything edible, sometimes becoming quite tame in the process (4)(5)(6).

The nest of the yellow-billed chough is a loose construction of twigs, heather and bracken and is often lined with wool from sheep which graze in high altitude mountain pastures (4)(6). The nest is usually built on an inaccessible ledge high up on a cliff wall, in cracked or cleft rock or in quarries (2)(4)(6).

The yellow-billed chough lays a clutch of three to five eggs, with incubation beginning as soon as the first egg is laid. The female yellow-billed chough will incubate the eggs alone and is fed throughout this time by the male. The young are fed by both adults until they fledge the nest at around 40 days old. When the young are able to fly, they are taught to forage by both adults (4). The yellow-billed chough is a gregarious species and will form flocks (3)(5).

Yellow-billed chough range

The range of the yellow-billed chough is spread discontinuously throughout the mountainous regions of Europe, Asia and North Africa, including the Alps and the Pyrenees (4)(6)(7). It is a vagrant in some areas of eastern Europe, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (7).

Species with a similar range

Yellow-billed chough habitat

The yellow-billed chough thrives in rocky habitats at high altitudes, regularly nesting at altitudes of over 5,000 metres above sea level (4). The yellow-billed chough inhabits mountainous regions and does not generally migrate, although it will descend to lower altitudes in winter (5).

Yellow-billed chough threats

Yellow-billed chough conservation

There are not known to be any specific conservation measures currently in black for the yellow-billed chough. However, many of the areas in which the yellow-billed chough lives have been selected as ‘Important Bird Areas’ (IBAs). The aim of IBAs is to protect bird species and habitats, and they are therefore highly significant for international conservation. The IBAs in which the yellow-billed chough is found are thought to hold fairly large populations of this species (7).

Authentication

Glossary

Incubation

The act of incubating eggs, that is, keeping them warm so that development is possible.

Larva

Immature stage in an animal’s lifecycle, after it hatches from an egg and before it changes into the adult form. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but are usually unable to reproduce.

Subspecies

A population usually restricted to a geographical area that differs from other populations of the same species, but not to the extent of being classified as a separate species.

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